Hi Grant, it should be possible to duplicate the Magister fairly easily by experimenting a bit. I take it the objective is to come up with a device that has approximately the same component values and the same performance as the Magister, rather than trying to make it better than it was.

If we can duplicate the generator part of the Magister (the original "feed coil" inside the flywheel, and the flywheel itself) on a device driven by an electric motor, that will determine how much electrical energy we have available, and at what voltage. The rectifier that follows would be simply a silicon diode with a Peak Inverse Voltage rating of at least 1000 Volts and a current rating of say 1 amp (vastly more than is required). That kind of diode is readily available in the nearest electronic components shop for a few cents. A condenser (capacitor) is then required, and it must have a voltage rating high enough to withstand the voltage the feed coil supplies, whatever that turns out to be. I would guess that the voltage will most likely be in the vicinity of 300 Volts, but we will not know that accurately until the motorised device is available to carry out a test with an actual flywheel and feed coil. Because it is tricky to measure the voltage directly from the coil (it will be a series of very short pulses, relatively widely spaced), I suggest measuring the rectified voltage across the capacitor. The size of capacitor is not important at this initial stage, and 300 Volt capacitors are uncommon now that vacuum tubes (traditionally called "valves") have gone out of fashion, so it would be a matter of seeing what is available from the shops. I suspect two or three lower-voltage capacitors will have to be used in series.

When the experimental program reaches the point of telling us that voltage, it will be time to move on to the "real" test stage with a coil and spark plug connected to the capacitor. At that point, for early experiments it might be wise to use a very small high voltage DC power supply instead of the real feed coil, to guard against damaging a rare and relatively fragile item.

That is a short overview of the way I think this project could proceed. Of course I'm happy to discuss it in detail along the way.